"Old Knives"

waynorth said:
Can you show us the main blade tang stamp on yours L leghog ??
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Here you go:

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Campbellclanman said:
That Valley Forge with the etch - have those Blades been refurbished- in the Pen Blade at the tip you can see patterns in the Steel - and quite a uniform finish of “ brushing” marks. I think that’s quite a cool knife.
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Duncan, apologies for the delayed reply. I see the patterns that you point out, but missed them previously. I haven't re-worked the blades, but i don't know what was done before I inherited the knife. However, I think that the pattern in the blade's finish is original, as all blade surfaces have the uniform parallel striations from edge to back, including beneath the etch on the main. The etch is unmarked, so that finishing had to be before the etch was done. The only place where the whirl pattern at the pen tip appears is at the pen tip on the mark side. It may be a poor finishing job in the original. But, I'm intrigued and am going to find a better means of magnification for a fuller look. I'm still relatively new to the knife collecting world. Yes, the creamy covers and bright-eyed end pins make for a nice knife.
- Stuart
 
leghog said:
With the steel pins I'm betting it has steel liners which means it's likely a mid-war USN issue jackknife. Though it should have a bail. You can see the brass nub/knob/non-pin where the bail was attached. Those a great knives.
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Thanks for the information. Yes, the brass nubs look like they were cut and filed, and the liners and pins are steel.
- Stuart
 
SadSappySucker said:
A friend recently gave me this Imperial equal end jack, and I absolutely love it! I’ve carried it all week and don’t plan on putting it up anytime soon.
About the only flaw with the knife is the fact that it’s been heavily cleaned. Other than that it is tight with firm and crisp walk and talk. The blades are full, and it is wonderfully thin for a jack of its size.
Doing a quick search of imperial tang stamps puts it between 1930-1936.
If any one could point me towards an imperial catalogue from that period it would be greatly appreciated.
pnBcZ5zoj
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I love all of the crazy patterns that Imperial / Hammer Brand had for their scales... here is a smattering of ones I got in the last few weeks as a sampler, I'm sure eventually I will post some of them individually ;)

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Duckdog said:
I have a few older (than me) guys joining me today when I get together with some younger (than me) buddies for cocktails this afternoon.

A Camillus EO jack (1941-1946, 4 line stamp on one blade).

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An Empire bare head jack (Winstead, CT, 1856-1930) with a spare pin hole.

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And a New York Knife Co. (Walden) Hammer Brand pruner (with appropriate shield touting a fertilizer company). This one may put into "time-out" for a while, as it bit me today while I was using it to help my wife make up pine roping and boxwood trimmings for our exterior doorways. All's well - small cut. May have to apply alcohol later.

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I date this knife at 1890-1932, as that tang stamp was used by NYKC 1878-1932, but the fertilizer company wasn't founded in Hawaii until 1890.

- Stuart
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Awesome stuff Stuart! I am a fan of anything NYKC :D
 
Here is one of the first really cool knives that I collected and it is still in my top 10 favorites in my collection, Electric Cut Co swell end jack :cool: The handles on this thing are almost impossible to catch the "3D" depth of the celluloid in pictures... I have no idea how they were made but I hope the pics capture it good enough. The last few pics I was focusing only on the handles. The snap on both blades are still awesome, you can tell it is part of the NYKC family. :thumbsup:

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Beautiful Knives Gents!
PV- Electric Cut co- what a Great Stamping to have on a Knife- because if it's there- it means that it's a darned good Knife- one of my favourite Jacks is a Electric Cut- Co- Just a Stunner- your great old piece looks worn- but has another 80 years left in it by far my friend!

Herder Buddy- I'm hearing those notes from over here my friend, Man what a beautiful old Knife, Lovingly used- and still to this day showing a near full Blade - Long pull into the Tang! Oh yeah!Bolsters look as though they are only pocket worn - no dents- man what a gorgeous Knife!
 
Duckdog said:
Duncan, apologies for the delayed reply. I see the patterns that you point out, but missed them previously. I haven't re-worked the blades, but i don't know what was done before I inherited the knife. However, I think that the pattern in the blade's finish is original, as all blade surfaces have the uniform parallel striations from edge to back, including beneath the etch on the main. The etch is unmarked, so that finishing had to be before the etch was done. The only place where the whirl pattern at the pen tip appears is at the pen tip on the mark side. It may be a poor finishing job in the original. But, I'm intrigued and am going to find a better means of magnification for a fuller look. I'm still relatively new to the knife collecting world. Yes, the creamy covers and bright-eyed end pins make for a nice knife.
- Stuart
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Hey matey- Please no apologies at all needed.
Now please dont get me wrong I think the Knife is a corker - marks on the blade are all good with me all day long, the reason as to why I asked about the Blades- is because that knife is in gorgeous condition, and I recently went through an experience where I bought a stunning Knife- with a Stunning Etch- now the Knife had been cleaned- but from a lot of studying of this Knife- I know the Knife was in very very good order before any cleaning was taken to the Knife- But for an old Knife the etch was so perfect - I passed this into experienced hands who very kindly hinted that at times knives are re-etched- extremely well- and a magnifying glass tells the tales - when I saw your beautiful Knife with such a perfect etch- it me straight back to my experience....

Oh man I sure hope I am ok talking about this with you- as it isnt meant to be detrimental to your knife in any way- just puerly talking about knives- as we do here....
Marks under a etch is not a good sign- under magnification if one sees scratches under a etch-Bang... it's been re-etched...seeing the "brush finish" and a etc- heres where it would be good to have other more experienced opinions to questions like..
Were etches placed over brush finish blades?
The knife is the Knife- Nice - there's no doubt about that one!,,,if at all - and I am not saying is here Stuart, but if at all it has been re-etched so what? - take the etch off- which hurts because at first it's the first thing that attracts us to the knife.
I hope with all sincerity that this is taken as a discussion point and not a swipe at your great knives that we all enjoy you posting.
 
Duckdog said:
These aren't quite as old as many shown over the past couple of days, though I confess to being uncertain of their true dates of manufacture. I'm as close as Goins can get me. They are two knives of same size (3 1/4" closed), same blade types (spear and pen), and similar vintages. A Cattaraugus Cutlery (Little Valley, NY) equal end sleeveboard from 1886-1963 (?) and a Valley Forge Cutlery (Newark, NJ) jack with a creamy white celluloid that look like smooth plain bone. Valley Forge was in business 1916-1950 and owned by Boker USA (J.R. Boker was its president as of 1920).

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- Stuart
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man that wee Catt is a great knife as well isnt it!
 
Campbellclanman said:
Hey matey- Please no apologies at all needed.
Now please dont get me wrong I think the Knife is a corker - marks on the blade are all good with me all day long, the reason as to why I asked about the Blades- is because that knife is in gorgeous condition, and I recently went through an experience where I bought a stunning Knife- with a Stunning Etch- now the Knife had been cleaned- but from a lot of studying of this Knife- I know the Knife was in very very good order before any cleaning was taken to the Knife- But for an old Knife the etch was so perfect - I passed this into experienced hands who very kindly hinted that at times knives are re-etched- extremely well- and a magnifying glass tells the tales - when I saw your beautiful Knife with such a perfect etch- it me straight back to my experience....

Oh man I sure hope I am ok talking about this with you- as it isnt meant to be detrimental to your knife in any way- just puerly talking about knives- as we do here....
Marks under a etch is not a good sign- under magnification if one sees scratches under a etch-Bang... it's been re-etched...seeing the "brush finish" and a etc- heres where it would be good to have other more experienced opinions to questions like..
Were etches placed over brush finish blades?
The knife is the Knife- Nice - there's no doubt about that one!,,,if at all - and I am not saying is here Stuart, but if at all it has been re-etched so what? - take the etch off- which hurts because at first it's the first thing that attracts us to the knife.
I hope with all sincerity that this is taken as a discussion point and not a swipe at your great knives that we all enjoy you posting.
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Many thanks, Duncan. I appreciate your sharing of experiences. This is the information (and education) that I sought when I first visited BladeForums. I, too, am interested to see what a better view of the blades will tell me. I did not think about re-etching (blissful naivete), though my readings of the informational sections in B. Levine's "Guide to Knives and Their Values" is opening my mind. Just as I will continue to read for more knowledge, I encourage you and others on this thread and the Porch to offer guidance in support of my collecting (and curating) adventures.
- Stuart
 
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You are a brave man, collecting those beautiful Celluloids, v_p!!!

Killer Walden Teardrop, Herder!!

Nice 40s collection, leghog!!
 
herder said:
Great showing of knives all!!!

Here is a 100 year old knife that hits all the right notes for me.
The melody would include...

A beefy spear blade with a heavy swedge and long pull.
Rich caramel colored bone handles with old school jigging.
Rounded off with a graceful tear drop handle featuring a classic Federal shield.
Refrain... :)

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Did someone say Refrain ;):):D

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